science · 15 March 1950 · 75 years ago
In 1950, Terramycin® was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Made by Charles Pfizer & Co., it was isolated from Indiana soil, and found effective against pneumonia, dysentery, and other infections. It was the first pharmaceutical discovered and developed exclusively by Pfizer scientists. This was the result of the company's intensive quest to find new organisms to fight disease. Acting on theories that bacteria-fighting organisms would be found in soil, Pfizer solicited soil samples worldwide, received 135,000 soil samples and conducted more than 20 million tests. One of the researchers said, “We got soil samples from the bottom of mine shafts… from the bottom of the ocean… from the desert… mountains and in between.” Terramycin was announced in the journal Science on 27 Jan 1950.
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